


Mistaken Identity

by Rumaan



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence After 3.03, Drama, F/M, Hints of Bellarke, Romance, hints of clexa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-22
Updated: 2016-03-23
Packaged: 2018-05-22 15:26:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 12,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6084903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rumaan/pseuds/Rumaan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clarke returns to Arkadia with a new bodyguard - or so Raven assumes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HawthorneWhisperer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HawthorneWhisperer/gifts).



> So this was basically meant to be a cute little vignette about Raven mistaking Roan for Clarke's bodyguard, but it actually grew pretty angsty, not very cute and this first part is more about Raven and Clarke than Raven and Roan. But I will be adding to it.

Raven happened to be limping past the gate when the shout went up for it to open. Stopping her slow and painful progress, Raven shaded her eyes to see who’d come in. It wasn’t the daily hunting party, they always returned before midday.

A flash of blonde had her eyes widening in shock.

_Clarke._

Raven had heard all about Bellamy’s thwarted rescue plan. As soon as they’d returned, Bellamy half carried in by Kane, Monty had come to find her, worry furrowing his brow and told her exactly how Bellamy had disguised himself as Ice Nation and they’d found him stumbling his way through the woods, shouting Clarke’s name, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Bellamy had become withdrawn since then – and even more stoic since Clarke had opted to stay in Polis rather than return to Arkadia. The weight of Gina hanging over him heavily, making him sullen and angry.

Her return now would either pull him out of his funk or break him completely.

Probably break him, Raven decided when she saw the rugged and dangerous looking Grounder who walked in with Clarke.

A large part of Raven was happy to see Clarke. She’d missed the other girl over the past three months. Missed that instinctive way they’d just fallen into being close friends from the worst possible scenario. But a small part of her resented the way Clarke strolled into Arkadia, as if her absence was nothing more than a couple of days. As if she hadn’t just abandoned everyone and was now apparently living happily in Polis whilst Bellamy and Monty struggled with the demons of their actions in Mount Weather.

Whilst Raven struggled every day in agony.

Folding her arms defensively, she wondered just how long it would take Clarke to notice her. If she would even notice her. Clarke had new friends now. Ones who weren’t broken.

Glancing around, Clarke stopped, stared at Raven for a moment before she started walking in her direction, a smile blossoming on her face before she stuttered to a halt, the smile turning hesitant and unsure as she took in Raven’s unwelcoming stance.

“I see they upgraded your bodyguard,” Raven called out combatively.

“He’s not-” Clarke started to say before Raven cut her off again.

“A definite improvement in the last one Lexa sent with you. Not quite so intimidating but much nicer to look at. Then again, you are _wanheda_ now. That must have some perks.

Regret bloomed in Raven’s chest as she saw the hurt that flickered across Clarke’s face before her friend pulled the shutters down.

“I see Lexa miscalculated again” the bodyguard said, a small smirk on his face. “This isn’t quite the hero’s welcome.”

Looking around, Raven saw that no one else had come to greet Clarke. No one else in the immediate vicinity even knew who she was and from the wary looks being thrown her way, they had assumed she was a Grounder, probably here to see Kane. From the awkward way Clarke was holding herself, she had noticed, too.

Raven’s lingering anger dissipated and she shot the Grounder a glare as she put a gentle hand on Clarke’s shoulder and asked, “Who do you need? Your mom or Kane?”

“Ideally both, but probably Kane first.”

Whistling to the kids scuffling over a football in the dirt, Raven shouted out, “One of you go to Medical and tell Dr Griffin she’s needed in the Chancellor’s Office.”

As they started the walk up into Alpha Station, Raven deliberately focused all her attention on Clarke, who was walking slowly, carefully matching her steps to Raven’s slower ones. If there was one thing she did not want to see, it was the disgust that was probably on the bodyguard’s face as he realised Raven was disabled. She’d had enough experience with Indra’s people to realise that Grounders only viewed her as a weakness. She wasn’t strong enough to be a warrior, or useful enough to farm and therefore had no purpose in society. She was weak and so was Arkadia for tolerating her.

“So much has changed,” Clarke said wistfully, looking around eagerly at everything and breaking into Raven’s bitter thoughts.

“Yep. We’re no longer Camp Jaha.”

“Where are all the others? I don’t recognise anyone?”

Swallowing down hasty words about how that was Clarke’s fault, Raven shrugged. “On patrol probably. Most of the forty-two signed up to work with the Guard. No one wanted to feel as helpless as they had in the Mountain again and Bellamy encouraged them.”

There was a slight stiffening of Clarke’s shoulders at the sound of Bellamy’s name. Looking over her friend’s head, Raven saw the curious look her bodyguard was giving Clarke out of the corner of his eye.

“I take it Bellamy is in the Guard, too?” Clarke asked, failing to infuse the right amount of nonchalance into her voice.

“He was,” Raven said curtly.

“Was?”

“Look, you want to know about Bellamy, you ask him yourself. I’m not getting in the middle.”

That was as much of warning as Raven was going to give Clarke. The other girl was intelligent enough to pick up on what Raven wasn’t saying. That everything wasn’t okay with Bellamy. She was not going to make Clarke’s job easier where he was concerned. Or communicate for him either.

“It’s just-” Clarke started to say before biting her lip, taking a deep breath and starting again. “I’m not sure he’d want to talk to me.”

Knowing how much Bellamy avoided talking about his feelings, she’d bet he wouldn’t want to as well, but, again, she was not going to make this easy on either of them.

“And this is a conversation you need to have with him.”

“Yeah. You’re right.”

“I’m always right,” she retorted.

From the periphery of her vision, she could see the unabashed interest the Grounder was taking in their exchange. He probably had to report back to the Commander, which Clarke must have already known.

She shrugged. It was up to Clarke what she wanted the Commander to know about her, not Raven. They’d also come to Kane’s quarters, so there wasn’t even time to ask her.

“Tell the Chancellor that Clarke’s here to see him,” Raven said to the guard on duty. “Is your bodyguard going in or do you want me to take him to the bar or Lincoln?”

“I’m not a bodyguard,” the Grounder said with a smirk.

Raven glared at her friend. She hated looking stupid even when the mistake was understandable.

Clarke sent Raven an apologetic look. “I did try to tell you. This is King Roan of Azgeda. He’s the reason we’re here to see Kane.”

Flinching, Raven drew away from Clarke. She could feel her face going hard, but the thought of Gina gasping out a warning over the radio with her dying breath, flooded her mind.

“Are you fucking crazy?” she spat at Clarke, who looked bewildered at her hostile reaction. “You brought Ice Nation into Arkadia? Less than a week after Mount Weather?”

“For a _reason_ ,” Clarke said emphatically. “His mother – the Ice Queen – ordered the attack on Mount Weather, but she’s now dead and Roan has come to discuss reparations.”

“Well, that’s _great_ , Clarke. Reparations are going to really bring the dead back. Do yourself a favour and _don’t_ seek Bellamy out whilst you have _him_ with you. Not unless you want to start another fight.”

“Bellamy is the boy I already bested, right?” Roan interjected. “The one I stabbed?”

“ _Fuck,_ Clarke! This is the bounty hunter who captured you and nearly killed Bellamy?”

Roan scoffed then. “If I wanted him dead, he would be dead.”

“You, shut up,” Raven said, jabbing her finger in the Ice King’s direction before turning it in Clarke’s direction. “And you have some nerve! What are you even thinking?”

“We’ve come to negotiate reparations. To make peace. It’s important the coalition stands. For all of us.”

Raven snorted and said derisively, “For your Heda maybe. No one here even wants to be the thirteenth clan, but you and Kane didn’t exactly give us much choice.”

Without waiting for a response, Raven turned her back on Clarke and her Azgeda King, cursing as she could only limp away slowly.

“Raven!” Clarke called. “Raven, let me explain!”

But she had no interest in what Clarke had to say.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raven spends some time with Roan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention at the beginning of this that I've deliberately cut Pike out of this story. So with no Pike, Bellamy is pissed and angry, but he's not got someone encouraging him to commit mass murder. And there's no ripple effect from that.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Raven muttered, as she caught sight of the now unaccompanied Azgeda king strolling into the bar as if he owned the place.

She flung the scrap metal she was sorting through to the side, stood up and made her way over to confront Roan.

“Are you out of your damn mind?”

“Good evening to you, too,” he said, that stupid smirk back on his face.

“You can’t just wander around. We might not know the differences between each Grounder clan off the top of our heads, but there’s a resentment towards all Grounders since _your_ people blew up a load of mine.”

“Clarke was busy with her mother and I wished to explore.”

“Of course you did,” she muttered, not intending for him to hear but from the smug expression on his face, he totally had.

Throwing a quick glance over her shoulder to check the atmosphere, Raven grabbed Roan’s armed and started to pull him away from the bar.

“That place looked interesting!” Roan objected, but he continued to allow her to drag him back out the door. He could have dug his heels in. There was no way she would’ve been able to manipulate him away if he’d done that, not with her leg anyway. She refused to consider what that meant about him. She did not have time to waste on trying to figure out Grounder kings.

“Interesting if you want to get into a fight.”

“Brawls are always considered part of an excellent night at a bar among my people.”

Rolling her eyes, she said, “I bet they are.”

“Where are you taking me instead?”

“You wanted a tour, right? And Clarke is too busy being Wanheda to give you one. So I might as well step in.”

“Your graciousness astounds me,” he replied with snarky attitude.

“It should. I ditched a pile of scrap metal to do this.”

He shot her a bemused look as if he was trying to get a handle on her. She liked that he couldn’t quite pin her down. That her motivations were difficult for him to understand.

“She doesn’t like being called that by the way.”

Raven stopped walking and stared at him. “What? Who?”

“Clarke. You’ve called her Wanheda twice now and she really doesn’t like it.”

“Why do you care?” she muttered.

“She took me by surprise. She wasn’t really what I was expecting from the legend.”

“That’s Clarke for you. She takes everyone by surprise.”

“She might have walked away but she still cares. She cares deeply what you think of her.”

“Me personally? Or Arkadia on a whole?”

“You personally. I could tell.”

She snorted. “You’ve spent what? A week or so in her company? And suddenly you can tell what she’s thinking?”

Roan stared at her, long and thoughtful, the glint of amusement gone from his eyes for a moment. Raven felt like squirming under his gaze. It was intent, as if he was dissecting her, stripping layers of personality away to see right into the very heart of just who she was. Suddenly, she understood just how he knew what Clarke thought. This was a man who was used to observing. Used to standing back in the shadows and watching as things unfolded before him. It made her shiver a little. It wouldn’t be easy to pull the wool over his eyes and Raven had come to value deflection as a defence mechanism.

“Clarke wants what is best for her people without a doubt,” Roan said, his eyes not leaving her face. “She’s a leader like that. But there are some of you she holds close to her heart. People she has allowed in and would defend at all cost. That boy Bellamy is one. She begged me for his life. Came with me as quietly as a mouse once I let him live. And you, you are another she would protect to her own detriment.”

Uncomfortable with how insightful this conversation was, Raven started to walk once more. Leading Roan through the mass of metal corridors as quickly as she could.

“So no more Wanheda digs,” she said casually once she was able to.

“If you want her to stay.”

Narrowing her eyes in his direction, she asked, “And what’s that supposed to mean.”

“She might be in Polis, acting as the ambassador for the Skaikru, but Clarke hasn’t stopped running yet. Only when she is able to face why she is running will she be able to return home.”

“And you know this how?”

“It was only once I was able to deal with my banishment that I was able to seek to readdress it.”

“You were banished?”

“By Heda herself.”

Raven studied him curiously, “And now she has crowned you King?”

He smirked. “And who have you been asking about me?”

“Lincoln. He told me that Lexa could’ve killed you in combat, but she chose to put a spear through your mom instead.”

“My mother had it coming. Besides, it was her fight with Lexa. Not mine.”

“And now you serve her as your Commander.”

He leaned towards her then, bent close to her ear and murmured, “Now I serve my people.”

His warm breath washed over her ear, causing goosebumps to erupt on her skin. Her eyes dropped involuntarily to his lips and she realised that all she had to do was turn her head slightly to the side and touch her mouth to his. It was tempting to consider, but she would not give him that satisfaction. He looked far too pleased with himself, as if he knew just what effect he was having on her.

_Arrogant asshole_ , she thought before stepping back and straightening her shoulders.

“This was the floating deck,” she said and was pleased at how calm and disinterested her voice sounded.

“Floating deck?”

“Where criminals would be released out of the airlock into space.”

Roan gave her a confused look.

“Execution,” she clarified. “There was no banishment on the Ark.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, you can find me on [tumblr](http://rumaan.tumblr.com/) if you should so wish!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things remain unresolved as Clarke and Roan return to Polis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all your comments and love for this fic. It's proving a lot of fun to write.

Raven wasn’t quite sure why she was standing there, slightly away from the official sending off party that consisted of Kane, Abby, Lincoln and Octavia, but still very much there to say goodbye to Clarke and the Ice King. She couldn’t even lie to herself and pretend that she was there for Clarke because she wasn’t. She was there for the enigmatic Azgeda leader who had intrigued her against her own will.

And from the small roguish smile that flirted with the corner of his lips, he knew it, too.

It wasn’t as if she didn’t care Clarke was going back to Polis. In light of Roan’s words about Clarke’s actions, Raven had actually sought her out later that evening. She might not quite understand how Clarke could happily play at leader with the woman who had ordered Finn’s death – Raven would never understand that. However, she could identify with not wanting to face difficulties. Not feeling able to tackle the root cause of things head on, because she found herself in that position, too. She could deny things to Abby and Monty, but she couldn’t lie to herself for too long and her leg wasn’t getting any better.

So, Raven got why Clarke found being in Polis easier. How it meant she didn’t have to face her demons. She also got to hide from Bellamy’s bitterness, Monty’s deep sadness, and Jasper’s self-destructive behaviour. She just wished Clarke didn’t feel that way. That she could return home for good.

The shout to open the gates went up and Raven her eyes sought out Roan once more. He was already looking at her, that damn arrogant smirk on his face as he gave her a little salute and turned to leave.

A slight noise to her side had Raven turning her head. Bellamy emerged from the deep shadows that ran down the side of Alpha station, a surly expression on his face.

“What was that?”

“I’m fine. Thanks for asking,” she retorted, irritated at his instant attitude.

He cut his eyes at her, his arms folding across his chest in a typical defensive Bellamy move. “Grounders can’t be trusted.”

“Have you said that to Lincoln’s face?”

“You know what I mean,” he replied, frustration bleeding into his voice.

Raven took a moment to study him. He was tense as if he was about to snap any moment, his jaw clenched, his shoulders taunt, and his hands balled up into fists. She softened a little.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

Bellamy scrubbed a hand over his face wearily and didn’t even pretend to not know what she was talking about. “I told her to stay. I trusted Echo.”

“You couldn’t have known. None of us could’ve known.”

“If I hadn’t trusted Echo-”

“Then what?” she interrupted. “You’d be dead, too. An assassin was sent into Mount Weather, Bellamy. It’s not as if your presence there would’ve stopped him. You don’t have some kind of magical radar to detect threats that could’ve prevented this.”

“Maybe if I’d been there. If we’d have more people.”

“You’re talking about two more people. You and Octavia. It’s not like we had guards posted to every entrance and you took them with you. We couldn’t have anticipated this.”

He released a sigh, then. Long and shuddering as his shoulders slumped and he stared down at the ground. He looked lost and broken, and Raven wished she could be the person who could put him back together. However, she wasn’t. There was only one person who had that kind of power right now and she had just ridden out of the gate.

“Did you talk to Clarke?” she asked.

She knew he hadn’t last night. Clarke had told her that she hadn’t even caught sight of Bellamy yet, which meant he’d found somewhere to hide out. Most likely the watch tower. He liked to go there. Before his foray to Polis, Raven had thought it was because he was constantly on the lookout for Clarke, and he probably had been. Now she thought he went because it was somewhere he could pretend to work whilst he contemplated.

His body tensed once more. “No,” he replied curtly.

She had hoped that a night of reflection might make him seek Clarke out to get some of that resentment of his chest, but apparently not. Bellamy had always been stubborn so it didn’t surprise her that he was being so about this.

“You can’t avoid her forever.”

“I don’t need to avoid her. She’s not here. She has new people now.”

Rolling her eyes, Raven punched him in the arm. “Don’t be an idiot.”

“Well she does! She doesn’t even _look_ like Clarke any more. She’s like some Grounder Princess now. You didn’t see her in Polis, all Grounder make-up and hair.”

“You’re a dumbass and you’re making it easier for her to stay in Polis.”

He scowled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That if you keep this act up, she won’t ever feel a need to come back her. Roan said-”

“Oh _Roan_ said,” Bellamy sneered, interrupting her. “You’re on first name basis with the Ice King now. The people who killed Gina.”

Raven’s first instinct was to punch Bellamy a lot harder than she had a moment ago, but she managed to rein that in, breathing deeply a couple of times until she had her temper under control. “I get that you’re hurting, but you don’t get to talk to me like that. You need to sort your shit out.”

“And you need to remember who the real enemy is, no matter how hot you find that Grounder.”

Stepping towards him, her face lifted confrontationally towards his. “You know what my favourite thing was about the Ark?”

He shook his head stiffly.

“That I didn’t have to suffer through a big brother. I don’t need you to try and play that role with me, Bellamy Blake. It didn’t work with Octavia and it’s not going to work with me. I don’t need any lessons from _you_ so get your head out of your ass.”

Raven didn’t bother looking at him as she limped away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raven goes to Polis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've managing to write new chapters for this every day, but depending on how soul destroying tonight's (well tomorrow for me!) episode is, there may not be an update tomorrow!

Polis wasn’t like anything Raven had ever expected. She had seen cities in old films of course, those that were archived in the Ark to retain human culture and also entertain, but Polis wasn’t like the cities featured in those films. There were no streets teaming with cars, or gleaming glass buildings, or crowds of people all pushing and shoving to get to places.

However, it was obviously the husk of an old city. There were half ruined buildings patched up the best they could be and in use. There was a street market where heaps of old metal and technology were piled next to food stalls. And there were people. People who flittered from one stall to the next, food on sticks precariously balanced in their hands as they negotiated the small press of humanity crowding around and bartering for goods.

It was nothing like they’d had on the Ark, not even the Exchange, which had been far too orderly to even be compared to this eye catching display of organised chaos.

Raven’s hands itched to go through the piles of salvaged tech. She was sure there was stuff they could use back in Arkadia to update and maintain systems so she threw Kane a pleading look.

His lips twitched as he took in the stall that had obviously grabbed her attention. “We’re needed in the Throne Room in thirty minutes. It’ll take us at least ten minutes to get all the way up there.”

She looked up at where his hand pointed to the very top of the tall tower.

“Twenty minutes is all I need.”

Kane looked doubtingly at the amount of tech loaded on the stall.

“Pfft!” Raven scoffed. “It looks a lot, but I can see even from here that most of it is useless.”

“We don’t have anything to barter.”

“I’m sure we can come up with something. Besides there might not even be anything good in there, but it’s worth a _look_ at least!”

Kane narrowed his eyes a little. “Twenty minutes,” he said.

“Gotcha!” she said beaming.

Most of the savaged tech really was junk. Stuff that had long passed out of use and could not even be adapted for the more advanced systems now used in Arkadia, but then she came across a small pile of stuff that was perfect for the fleet of jeeps that Arkadia had taken from Mount Weather. Under Sinclair’s supervision, she and Monty had managed to fix just over half the vehicles but they just didn’t have the parts for the others. However, she knew that they did not have enough things they could barter for this much tech.

Eyeing the woman manning the stall carefully, Raven pondered if she knew how useful some of this stuff was. Or she could be persuaded into bartering them for something that Raven wouldn’t consider their worth. Grounders didn’t even use vehicles so it wasn’t as if they were of any use to her.

“ _Chit yu gaf_?” the stall owner asked, sensing Raven’s stare.

_Shit_ she thought. She hadn’t even considered the language barrier. Annoyed that she hadn’t gone to any of Lincoln’s language lessons, not bothering to consider them relevant to her, she wracked her brain for any stray Trigedaslang phrases but came up blank.

“Erm…do you speak English?” she asked hesitantly.

“ _Skaikru_?” the woman inquired and Raven nodded. “ _Yu gada som in na kof op_?”

At a loss, Raven looked around trying to find Kane or someone with much better language skills than her to help.

“Need some assistance?” a slick voice asked as Roan materialised by her side.

The stall owner stepped back a little, bowed and said with awed respect, “ _Haihefa._ ”

Raven raised an eyebrow at Roan.

“Delen is from Azgeda,” he said before he held a brief yet rapid conversation with Delen that she had no hope of understanding.

“What did you wish to have?” Roan asked, turning back to her.

“I wanted to ask what she would accept for this,” she replied, pointing to the pile of engine parts she’s separated out.

“Nothing. They are yours to take.”

Frowning, Raven said a little combatively, “I don’t want them for free. We have things we can barter for them.”

“Probably nothing that she actually wants.”

“That’s not the point. I don’t need you to come in here and order your subject to give me stuff. She has a livelihood and I won’t take advantage of it.”

Roan gave her a long, inscrutable look. “Most people would thank me.”

“I am not most people.”

He laughed then. “No, Raven Reyes, I can see that you are not.”

A frisson of pleasure slid down her spine at his words. She had never experienced the way he looked at her – as if she was a delightful surprise. Raven was shocked to realise that she could get used to it.

“Does this meet with your satisfaction?” Roan asked, as he passed a heavy coin sack across to the stall owner, who just gaped in astonishment. He had to rattle the bag before she reached out a hand and took it.

“Now my subjects will expect me to pay for everything,” he said with a teasing glint in his eye.

“Good,” Raven responded tartly. “You should pay them – king or not! But what I can give you in exchange?”

She mentally cursed her poor choice of words as Roan’s hot gaze tracked down her body. Her stomach clenched in anticipation at the unspoken promise of pleasure in his eyes. However, instead of reacting with a request for her to spend the night in his bed as she feared he might, he offered her his arm and said, “I would ask that you accompany me up to the throne room.”

“That’s it?” she asked suspiciously.

“You don’t value your company as adequate payment?”

“Oh, I do. I’m awesome.”

His lips curled up into a playful smile. “Then we are in agreement.”

Clicking his fingers, he called one of his men over. “Where do you want them to take your purchases?”

“We left Rover One just outside the city limits. There are a couple of guards there.”

Roan nodded his understanding and issued his orders in Trigedaslang. Raven couldn’t help but think that she would be very willing to take up lessons if he offered to teach her.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raven sees Lexa again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out. The weekends aren't a good time for me to write.

Raven couldn’t help but tense up as soon as she entered the Throne Room and saw Lexa standing there, supremely in command of the setting.

It brought back memories of three months ago of Finn and her overwhelming pain and anger. Then of being tied to log by the woman standing in front of her now, and being cut and realising in horror just how awful Finn’s punishment would’ve been if Clarke had not killed him. However, before she could even catch her breath, they had been pitched headlong into the fight against Mount Weather.

Now, she realised just how much she had repressed that time, but laying eyes on Lexa brought it flooding back.

Then to see Clarke standing so comfortably by her side, their eyes meeting every now and again in accord and agreement, and Raven could understand why Bellamy wanted to avoid her. It was hard to see her cosying up to a woman who had cost them all so much a few months past.

Subconsciously, her hand sought out Roan’s arm and she gripped onto his forearm, taking strength from having someone at her side.

“You don’t like Heda?” he asked, murmuring into her ear.

Raven turned her head and met his eyes. “Last time I saw her I was tied to a stake as she cut me with a knife.”

“And now you are her subject.”

A small frowned creased the skin between her eyebrows as she tried to assess exactly what he meant, but his face was an impenetrable mask.

“And now I am her subject,” she repeated wryly, not keen to let anything drop.

“Leadership can be strange like that. Just a month past, I was living off the land, missing more meals than I would like, and now I am King of Azgeda with the strongest army of the coalition at my back.”

Roan muttered this as a matter of fact, but there was something within his words that had her tensing slightly. She was not the most adept at politics, never had been. She didn’t have the desire of inclination to be a leader. Not like that. Her strength was in understanding machines not people. But there was something about the Ice King that she just got. And as she met his eyes again and saw the steel that lay within them, she knew she had not misunderstood the threat that lay within his statement.

She made a move as if to go towards Clarke but his hand stopped her.

“My fight is not with Skaikru. Believe it or not, my mother’s was not either. You were an unfortunate pawn in her strike against Lexa. You have my word that neither you nor you people will be harmed tonight.”

“And Clarke?”

Raven’s relationship with Clarke might have been rocky right now. She might not comprehend how Clarke could happily work alongside Lexa, but she was still her friend and that meant looking out for her.

“I have no reason to move against Clarke – as long as she does not try to protect her lover.”

There it was. The truth that both she and Bellamy had been trying to suppress in order to protect themselves. It was one thing to work politically with someone who had betrayed them all, who had cost Clarke so much within herself, but it was another to love them. However, the love was there. Raven could see it and it was this more than anything that she could not reconcile with her own hurts.

Clarke had failed to return to them, had chosen to stay in Polis, not only for politics but because she loved Lexa. It was this tore at Raven more than anything else. That somehow the Commander – whose betrayal had meant Clarke could not live with herself – was able to heal Clarke when they couldn’t. It was this knowledge that festered like an open wound constantly reminding her that she was never enough. She hadn’t been enough for her mom, for Finn, and not even for Clarke.

“She will try though,” Raven said. “Clarke always protects those she loves.”

“Then she will face the consequences.”

Her free hand flashed to where his hand covered hers and grasped it. “Please, Roan.”

The King’s flinty gaze rested on her contemplatively for a moment before he gave a brief nod and said, “As the summit opens, Clarke will sit in that chair over there.” He pointed to the wooden chair closest to the podium where Lexa’s throne sat in stately isolation. “Get behind it and take one of your guards with you. When it is time, keep her in the chair and she will remain unharmed. If she gets up to fight then I cannot guarantee her safety.”

Raven nodded gratefully and felt compelled to ask, “And you would do this for her?”

“Nay,” he said.

“Then why?”

“Because you ask it of me.”

Her head drew back a little in shock as the impact of his words hit her. It was one thing for her to repress the attraction she felt for him – had felt from the moment she laid eyes on him. But it was something else entirely for him to work out a way to spare her friend from getting hurt in a fight and all because she asked him to.

A small smirk rested at the corner of his lips. “You need to get into position. There is not much time.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world turns upside down (try and not sing that!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for your comments on this fic. It's been a lot of fun seeing you all get deeper into Ice Mechanic and I'm super happy I've helped drag more of you onto this tiny little boat!

Raven winced as the pain in her leg spasmed again. It had taken a greater effort than the guard had predicted to get Clarke restrained during the Ice Nation coup and so Raven had stepped in and had taken a knock to her hip for her pains. Clarke hadn’t even realised that it was Raven she had lashed out at as she screamed when the few remaining guards loyal to Lexa had been subdued and Lexa herself had been forced onto her knees at the point of the new Commander’s knife.

To give Lexa her due, she had not cried out at any point. She had looked shocked at the sheer speed of events and saddened as Ontari had marched into the throne room, Ice Nation warriors at her back and her clothes liberally splashed with black blood.

There she had calmly announced that as she was the last of the Nightbloods that she was the only person fit to be the new Commander. There had been no dissent from the other clans, just as there hadn’t been when Roan had challenged Lexa and ordered her arrest – citing dereliction of duty as the reason she had to be removed as Heda.

Ontari’s first action as Commander had been to banish Lexa and strip Skaikru from its status as the thirteenth clan until a vote could be taken with all the clan leaders to determine if they were to be accepted into the coalition or not.

Kane had spluttered something out, but Ontari had silenced him with a lift of her hand. She had then declared that a truce with Skaikru would remain in place until their status could be clarified, they had been told to leave and that had been it.

Raven had caught Roan’s eye as she had followed the Skaikru delegation out. Clarke had been so devastated she had to be half carried out of the room. His face had not shown any emotion, but there was reassurance in his eyes that this would all turn out okay. She hoped it would, because while she doubted her prior knowledge of what was going to happen would have changed anything, she would still carry guilt if this turned out badly for her people.

Now they were back in Rover One, speeding back to Arkadia. Clarke had yet to say anything. She just sat listlessly next to Raven.

Kane looked over from the other side of the vehicle, a sad expression on his face.

“What do you think will happen?” she asked him.

He rubbed a weary hand over his beard. “Not sure. Lexa was the one who wanted us in the coalition. I don’t think there was ever much support outside of her for us to be the thirteenth clan.”

“There wasn’t,” Clarke interjected bitterly. “She was the only one who had the vision to integrate us like that. She had a vision for peace and now it’s been ruined.”

The final words were spat out viciously and in anger, but Raven could also see the worry also lurking in Clarke’s eyes. This was more than just about her relationship with Lexa and Raven felt guilty for her harsh thoughts towards her earlier than evening. She might have struggled to ever like Lexa again, but Clarke deserved to have some happiness and it seemed as if she and Lexa had been attempting to put something positive into place.

Could she have stopped Lexa from falling if she had stepped away from Roan when she had the chance and warned Clarke?

She shook her head slightly. There was little point in worrying about what had happened. She had to trust that Roan would not look to exterminate her people. He didn’t appear to carry any hatred towards them and he had been genuinely curious about looking around the remnants of Alpha Station. Plus he had sought her out today. That had to count for something, surely?

Rover One slowed as they approached the gates of Arkadia, and, despite the fact that in the back they couldn’t see anything, Raven felt Clarke tense up.

“This is still your home, you know,” she said in a deliberately casual tone of voice.

Clarke turned to look at her. In the dim light of the jeep, she looked exhausted. Her eyes were red-rimmed from either crying or tiredness and puffy purple circles lay under them. Her hair was a disaster with random red streaks scattered throughout the blonde. There were braids and general knots tangling it and it looked as if it could do with both a good wash and a trim.

_Did they not have either shampoo or a hairbrush in Polis?_ Raven wondered, but she kept the thought to herself. Judging by Clarke’s stiff body language, she had more to worry about than her hair.

“I’m not sure I know how to be here,” Clarke replied.

“You’re overthinking it. Just be here and it will be fine.”

Clarke bit her lip nervously. “Is everyone angry at me?”

Raven huffed out a laugh and slung her arm around Clarke’s shoulders. It felt good to be casually affectionate with her again. She had missed the support their friendship brought her. “No, we’re not angry with you. We missed you, that’s all.”

“But Bellamy-”

“Bellamy’s going through a hard time,” Kane said interrupting her. “The guilt of Mount Weather and of what it cost you weighed heavily on him for a while. Then as he was rebuilding himself and his world, Ice Nation attacked Mount Weather again and Gina died.”

“Gina?” Clarke queried.

The breath hitched in Raven’s throat as she realised just how little Clarke knew about them all now. It was strange to think that Clarke had never met Gina, didn’t know about how keenly both she and Bellamy felt her loss.

“His girlfriend,” Raven said gruffly. “And my friend. She was attacked by the assassin and it’s only because she was able to warn me and Sinclair over the radio that we’re both alive.”

“Oh,” Clarke said softly, shock rendering her slack-jawed. “I didn’t know Bellamy had lost someone special in the attack.”

It looked as if Clarke was thinking about the confrontation she’d heard Bellamy had with her in the same Throne Room they’d just fled in a new light. This was probably a good thing. Raven didn’t know what Clarke thought of Bellamy now, whether it was with the fondness of someone she considered a friend or something deeper. However, she did suspect that Bellamy’s feelings were deeper than he dared even examine.

“Gina was good for him,” she said, looking down at her hands as grief for her friend washed through her once more. “She gave him hope that things would get better. She was good for all of us.”

“I’m sorry,” Clarke said quietly.

Out of the corner of her eye, Raven saw Kane lean across and grasp Clarke’s shoulder comfortingly. “It’s why he took you staying in Polis so personally. Give him time. His anger will pass and he will come to understand that you did it for us.”

Clarke made an unconvincing sound of agreement. Raven couldn’t help but think that Kane was being a little optimistic too. Then again, she knew Bellamy better than Kane and knew how much it had hurt him to see Clarke immersed so deeply into Polis. He had aggressively refused to speak about once he returned and she hadn’t pushed him. He’d needed time to come to terms with Gina’s death – one more to add to the tally that he carried around as a burden. However, her own hurt when she’d seen Clarke so comfortable in that Throne Room in Polis, watching her exchange soft smiles with Lexa helped her understand why Bellamy felt so betrayed by Clarke.

Still, she knew better than to express any of this to Clarke. Not now anyway.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raven decides enough is enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, this ship is keeping me going through season 3. So happy that [themiddleliddle](http://themiddleliddle.tumblr.com/) and [aliceofalonso](http://aliceofalonso.tumblr.com/) brainstormed this ship up and then got hawthornewhisperer invested to write [her masterpiece](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6022372/chapters/13815940).
> 
> As if these three ladies weren't queens already!

It was a week before anything was heard from Polis regarding Skaikru’s official status. A week where Kane and Clarke conferred on a daily basis and both wore the stress of the unknown heavily. Raven didn’t know what went on in the Chancellor’s Office, had no desire to be there, but she did note that Bellamy also did not attend those meetings.

He spent a lot of time in the hanger bay, avoiding the bar because that brought too many memories of Gina, but often sitting quietly next to Raven as she sorted through the pile of engine parts she had returned from Polis with.

“Are you ever going to re-join the Guard?” she asked.

“Nope,” he replied, not lifting his head from the shirt he was mending.

“So what? You’re just going to become Arkadia’s tailor?”

He shrugged. “I’m good at it. Besides, it’s not like there are many people here capable of mending clothes to a good standard.”

“You’re good at being a Guard, too.”

Ignoring her, he continued to place tiny neat stitches into the tear he was mending. His concentration apparently focused solely on his task. However, his shoulders were taunt and gave away just how much effort he was putting into being unaffected by her question. She decided to strike. He hated talking about feelings just as much as she did, but no one else was doing anything about him, so apparently it was down to her to knock some sense into that thick Blake skull.

“Our people need you,” she said and then went for the jugular. “Clarke needs you.”

His hands stopped then, and he looked down at them for a long moment, before he sighed heavily and put his needle and thread down. Looking straight at her, he said, “She doesn’t need me. She’s proved that when she walked away from here. Besides, she has Kane.”

Raven scoffed. “If you think that is true then you’re being wilfully blind. Clarke has always needed you, just like you need her.”

Bellamy shook his head and refused to meet her eyes, which was how Raven knew he was being stubborn about. He could deny it all he wanted to her, but he knew deep down that what she said was the truth.

So he changed tack like the idiot he was. “Besides, the last time I took charge, I trusted the wrong person and got more people killed.”

“And for how long are you going to beat yourself up for that?” Raven asked, not needing an answer. Bellamy Blake was nothing if not spectacular at carrying guilt long past the moment other people would’ve moved on.

Listen,” she said, grabbing his arm. “I get that you doubt yourself, but continuing to distance yourself and hiding away playing seamstress isn’t going to bring Gina back. You need to get back to doing what you do best.”

Shaking her hand off, his jaw clenched tight, he snapped his head around to face her with his eyes blazing with fury. “And what’s that precisely? Getting people blown up or irradiating them?”

“ _Leading_ ,” Raven said emphatically, jabbing him in the chest hard with her finger. “Kane and Clarke, they have the foresight to strategize and they are damn good at it. But they need you because both of them suck at getting their message down to the general population.”

Bellamy stared at her long and hard, his breath coming rapid and shallow. She could almost see the cogs turning in his mind and the indecision about what to do with her words. Then he inhaled deeply, his eyes flicking to the bar that Gina had made her own and exiled with a slump of his shoulders. “I betrayed her.”

“Who?” she asked puzzled.

“Gina. I didn’t just tell her to stay in that damn mountain, I left her there so I could rescue Clarke.”

Raven stopped them, every part of her stilling as she realised that the walls Bellamy had built around himself since Mount Weather were about to crack.

“I rushed off twice to get her, prepared to do whatever it took to bring her home, walked across an army for her, and no point did I think about Gina. It was all about Clarke,” he stopped then, swallowing heavily before adding, “What does that say about me? That I would readily run so fast and far for a woman who wasn’t my girlfriend?”

There it was. The admission that they had all known, but no one had mentioned out loud and one that had obviously been eating Bellamy alive. Raven wished she could find the right words for this moment. Say something that would ease his guilt, but that had never been her speciality. It had always been Clarke who had been able to chase away the darkness in him.

So, she rested her head on Bellamy’s shoulder instead; giving him the physical comfort that she couldn’t quite fit into words and they stayed that way until Miller hunted them down.

“Kane needs you in his office, Raven,” Miller said, his eyes flicking to Bellamy and then away again. “A messenger has come from Polis.”

“Me?” she queried.

“That’s what Kane said.”

She rose as quickly as her hip would allow and then held her hand out to Bellamy. “It’s time you got involved again,” she said determinedly. She wasn’t going to let him sit out on the side-lines anymore. He had always been involved in the big decisions that had affected them and there was no need for this time to be any different.

He stared at her outstretched hand for a long moment and then back to the shirt he was mending before he nodded and stood.

Raven couldn’t help the triumphant smile that spread across her face. She gotten through to him and he was ready to get back to doing what he did best.

Now all she needed to do was find a way to lock him and Clarke into the same room so they could straighten their differences out.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new Commander issues a demand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for all your comments. They are hugely appreciated.

There was no real reason for Raven to be in the meeting in the Chancellor’s Office. All she had done so far is sit awkwardly on the sofa with nothing to contribute to the general conversation. However, it had been worth enduring this snooze fest to see the surprise on Clarke’s face as Bellamy followed her through the door. Kane had just nodded at Bellamy with a slightly smug expression as if he’d known that Bellamy would be walking through his door sooner rather than later. However, Clarke had looked shell-shocked and then happily surprised. Bellamy being the stubborn ass he was, hadn’t looked at her, but Raven had given her a conspiratorial smile that she had returned gratefully.

Raven had wondered if the messenger who had been sent to them was Roan and that was why her presence had been requested. Anticipation had risen on her way towards Kane’s Office, fizzing through her blood stream and accelerating her heartbeat. It had been followed by crashing disappointment when the messenger had turned out to be someone she had never seen before.

_As if the Ice Nation King would be a mere envoy_ , her rational side had said, but it hadn’t stopped any excitement she’d had in the meeting dissipating rapidly.

Now she sat staring at the map that Kane had built up over the past months. Azgeda territory dominated the north-eastern part, stretching up past the limits of the Perspex it was drawn on. She wondered where Roan was in that vast territory. She hadn’t thought to ask where the Ice Nation monarch resided. It wasn’t in Polis as that was a sanctuary city. A place ruled by the Commander who, even prior to the coalition Lexa had forged between all the clans, had been the ultimate authority in settling disputes between the twelve different clans and riding to war if their commands were ignored.  The clans sent ambassadors to live in Polis and represent their interests. She wondered if Clarke would be asked to do that job again if Skaikru were accepted back as the thirteenth clan by Ontari and the other clans. She hoped not as they had only just gotten Clarke back.

“No!” Bellamy said harshly, pulling Raven from her wandering thoughts.

The tension was thick in the room and Raven’s eyes flicked rapidly from Bellamy’s clenched jaw, Kane’s worried look and Clarke’s stoic unsurprised expression.

“What?” she asked.

 “They want us to give up Wanheda.”

Fear and anger flooded through Raven and her head snapped back quickly to Clarke, who had her arms folded defensively but was not speaking. “Why?” Raven asked confused.

Clarke met her enquiring gaze then. “Wanheda has power and the new Commander wants it.”

It was disconcerting to hear Clarke speak so calmly about it and refer to herself in the third person as if it wasn’t anything that affected her. Raven then also remembered Bellamy and Monty telling her what the Ice Queen had wanted to do to Clarke on their return from Azgeda territory to find her. This idea that some special power resided in Clarke’s blood because of their destruction of the Mountain and that the person who killed her would then gain this power. It was something Raven had rolled her eyes at when first told because it was as ridiculous as it sounded. But now, with a new Commander who had no reason to want to protect Clarke, she worried.

“It’s not happening,” Bellamy said emphatically. “Clarke is Skaikru and we will not give her up so she can be _murdered_ for some stupid tradition.”

Raven nodded in firm agreement.

“Bellamy-,” Kane said, putting a placating hand out.

“Don’t tell me you’re even considering this,” Bellamy snapped.

“Of course not,” Kane replied in a placating tone. “Let us discuss this with the envoy.”

Bellamy snorted derisively but he subsided, standing against the wall with his hands folded angrily across his chest and the tick in his jaw jumping.

“Obviously we cannot agree to this condition,” Kane said to the messenger. “We will not hand one of our people over to be killed.”

“Heda has been very clear that she will not accept a refusal in this matter.”

“It is not acceptable for us and we will not change our minds on this,” Kane said.

The meeting broke up not long afterwards, Kane smiling and gesturing for the messenger to follow him for refreshments. His endless capacity to be the consummate diplomat showing as he acted as if they’d just agreed a harmless trade treaty and not been asked to hand over one of their own to be killed in some kind of blood sacrifice.

However, neither Clarke nor Bellamy moved which had Raven raising her eyebrows.  Determined not to be in the way of this showdown, she got up of the soda and punched Bellamy lightly on the arm on her way out. She smiled as she heard “Bellamy, please” as she closed the door.

Not feeling like going back the hanger bay, Raven turned towards her room. She could do with a nap after how boring that meeting had been. She didn’t understand why her presence had been requested.

It wasn’t until she was in her room, the door closed, and kicking her boots off that she saw him.

He had moved her desk chair until it sat in a shadowy corner and was slouched in it as if he belonged there.

“ _Fuck!_ ” Raven exclaimed. “You scared me!”

“Sorry,” he said in an unrepentant tone as he stood.

“How are you here? Why are you here? Shouldn’t you have been in the meeting?”

“I am no lapdog for the new Heda. She may be have been accepted as the new Commander, but she is of Azgeda and has not forgotten that it was I who made it possible for her to ascend to her calling. I came for another reason.”

Raven crossed her arms and said accusingly, “And do you know what she is asking?”

He smirked at her. “Of course.”

Walking across the room, Raven aggressively invaded his space, lifting her chin and spitting out, “So you are fine with the Commander demanding Clarke be returned to Polis so she can kill her?”

“Why do you think I am here?”

Raven saw red at that. “Get out!” she growled. “Get out before I find something hard and heavy to smack you with.”

“Wait!” Roan said, grabbing her right arm.

“Get your hand off me now!”

“Will you just listen? I did not mean that I was in agreement with Heda. I am here to make sure you know that as King of Azgeda, I plan to publicly oppose this decision.”

She stopped then, turning her face back to his and frowning. Why would he do that? He could not care if Clarke was killed for some stupid tradition that made no sense.

“Ontari is new and untested,” Roan continued, stepping closer towards her, his hand softening as she made no move away. “She cannot afford to go up against the clans just yet, especially her own clan who put her on the throne. She is banking on the clans wanting Clarke dead because she is a threat and we all know how close she was to Lexa. If I speak out then she will have to listen.”

“Why? Why would you go against the new Commander over this?”

“Believe it or not, I actually like Clarke and I do not want war between Skaikru and the coalition. Lexa was right to bring Skaikru into the coalition, she was just unwise in how she did it. She didn’t realise the damage that her lack of action outside Mount Weather had done to her position in power. She did not have authority to push through her rule anymore. However, it doesn’t mean she was wrong to go down the path.”

Raven frowned. “But you overthrew her.”

“Yes, but not for this. Lexa had become a liability. She was no longer communicating with clan leaders, determined that her way was the only right way with any consultation. That is a dangerous road for any leader to take so close to such a failure as Mount Weather was for her. Plus she failed to see how clouded her judgement towards Clarke had become due to her heart.”

A sick feeling settled in the pit of Raven’s stomach as she realised that by pointing this out, Roan was saying he did not suffer from the same affliction. That there was no one who could affect him like that. Until this moment, she hadn’t realised how close her own heart had come to falling for the enigmatic king. Fortunately, he had reminded her how stupid such a thing would be.

Shutting down her burgeoning feelings, Raven kept her face deliberately cool. “And the other Clans will go along with you?”

“Yes,” he said smugly. “After all, I am the most powerful of them. Trikru might have been able to challenge me, but they are in disarray after Lexa was banished.”

“So you came here only to reassure us that you would speak out against the plan? Why break into my quarters? Shouldn’t you have this conversation with Kane and Clarke?”

Heat flared briefly in his eyes as he stared intently at her. “I know I can trust that you will not give my visit here away. The envoy Heda chose is a childhood friend of mine. She will hold her silence, but should anyone from Polis hear of my visit, it would not be taken kindly – not matter how much Ontari relies on my backing.”

“You took quite a risk,” she commented.

“It is worth it,” he replied and she got the feeling he meant more than reassuring Skaikru of his opposition to the new Commander’s plans.

However, she was not going to be stupid enough to allow her heart to dictate to her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arkadia learns it's fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of updates recently. I've spent 90% of my spare time reading the Red Rising Trilogy - which I highly recommend btw. It's a class struggle set in space and fantastic.

It was a month before Arkadia heard from the new Commander again. Kane had sent the envoy home with a very politely worded refusal to send Clarke back to Polis so that she could be killed. Bellamy had walked around with an angry face for a couple more days, annoyed that they had even been asked to consider that and he had somehow convinced Kane to refuse to allow Clarke to leave the camp which had meant she’d walked around with a permanent scowl on her face. Bellamy had been unrepentant though. Determined to keep her cooped up in camp in case the new Heda sent a squad to kidnap her.

Raven just rolled her eyes and told Bellamy he was a dumbass for thinking Clarke would welcome his interference in her movements. However, she’d also told Clarke to suck it up, that Bellamy was right to suspect Ontari would send someone after her and that it would be stupid to wander outside Arkadia’s walls until they had assurances that her life was no longer in danger. It wasn’t as if Clarke’s presence in the Med Bay wasn’t needed. There was plenty of work to keep her occupied and now she also knew how it felt to constantly have people limit her actions and movements – something that drove Raven crazy regularly.

However, aside from that, Bellamy and Clarke appeared to be rebuilding their friendship. Suddenly Raven would look up and across the fire pit and see them sitting side by side, often not talking, but taking comfort in each other’s presence. It was good to see but Raven couldn’t help but feel that it highlighted just how alone she was since Finn had gone.

Up in space, it had always been her and Finn. The conditions of Raven’s life hadn’t made it easy for her to make a lot of friends, but she hadn’t needed them with Finn around. Then after Mount Weather, Gina had pretty much adopted her. Refusing to allow her to pull back and making as much time to spend with her as she had Bellamy.

But now Gina was gone just like Finn and there was no one left to draw the laughs from her.

Despite how nice it was to have Clarke back, it wasn’t the same. Clarke wore the past six months as a heavy mantle – the shadows always lurking in her eyes. While Raven herself was bitter and broken. Ghosts surrounded them both now and it was hard to chase that away.

She found herself inexplicably missing Roan, the way his steely eyes would meet hers across a room and the smug smirk that would rest on his thin lips as if sharing a joke that only the two of them understood. For all that Finn had been her family, she had never shared this kind of connection with him and it was disconcerting to realise that she’d built it up on the back of a handful of meetings with the Ice Nation King.

Then one sunny morning, riders from Polis arrived. The fate of Arkadia had been decided.

Raven’s presence wasn’t requested this time and she didn’t ask to attend either. It was a couple of hours before Clarke sought her out.

“Well?” Raven asked, not lifting her head from the hard drive she was fixing.

“We’ve been accepted as the thirteenth clan.”

That had Raven looking up.

“What?” she asked in some disbelief.

Roan had promised that no harm would come to Clarke and she had believed him in that, but she hadn’t thought he would be able to push through the acceptance of Skaikru as the thirteenth clan.

“On a temporary basis. We’re on probation for a year. If we can prove that we are peaceful and not looking to conquer anyone’s lands then we will be formerly accepted as a member of the coalition. Kane’s meeting with the Council now. He knows the general population doesn’t particularly trust the Grounders.”

Raven snorted at that understatement. It wasn’t hard to work out why Arkadia was wary of any Grounder leaders – not after both Mount Weather incidents.

“The Skaikru ambassador will go back with the delegation from Polis tomorrow.”

Her stomach sank at the news. “So you’re leaving again already?”

Clarke gave her a little smirk at that and replied with a question, “Who said I was the new ambassador?”

“You were the previous ambassador so why wouldn’t you be this time?”

“I was too close to the previous regime, apparently,” Clarke said carefully, unable to truly hide the hurt and anger in her voice.

Lexa was still a tricky subject with Clarke. She missed her, Raven knew that. Still had feelings for her that were complicated by bond she had with Bellamy. Also, she had confessed one night after too much of Monty’s moonshine that she sometimes felt like going back into the wilderness to find her so they could be together. Raven had been glad Clarke had mumbled that to her and not Bellamy because she wasn’t sure he would be able to take hearing that. It had been difficult for Raven to listen to. The thought of Clarke leaving and for good this time had caused her whole body to tense in rejection of such an idea. However, Clarke hadn’t left yet and the longer she stayed, the more enmeshed  

“So who’s the new ambassador?”

“Octavia. Lincoln will be going with her.”

It was the choice Raven herself would’ve made if she’d thought about it. Octavia was the one who understood Grounder culture the most, not only because of Lincoln but also because of her links with Indra. She also spoke the best Trigedaslang.

“How did Bellamy take the news?”

“Stoically,” Clarke said with a small smile. “He’s not happy. You can tell, but Octavia is and so he’s keeping quiet.”

She puffed out a small laugh at that. She could just imagine how excited Octavia must be and how desperately sad Bellamy would be to have his sister so far away. However, he would’ve been devastated had it been Clarke going.

“One strange request came with the delegation though.”

“Oh?” Raven asked, not particularly interested now she knew Clarke was staying.

“Apparently now we are part of the coalition, it’s been asked that we share our knowledge of technology.”

“Really?” Raven exclaimed, her curiosity piqued once more. “I thought Grounders weren’t interested in technology.”

“On a whole they aren’t. However, one clan requested it be part of the terms,” Clarke said, her eyes knowing as they scanned her face for a reaction.

Raven tried – and failed – to make her question nonchalant. “Oh? Which clan was that?”

“Azgeda. They’ve asked for us to send someone to set up a basic communication network for them. The King rules such a large land, apparently he needs quicker ways to touch base with his various villages than riders. He’s asked if one Raven Reyes could go and spend the summer in their capital city, setting something up for them.”

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Azgeda has an affect on Raven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. This chapter proved very difficult to write. There might be an epilogue but I make no promises. This was only ever meant to be a little one off ficlet and it pretty turned into me working through my various frustrations with season 3 so far.

Azgeda had a very different feel to the other Grounder lands Raven had been to. There were less wooden huts for one and more actual buildings like the ones she’d expected from films. They had utilised stone from the destroyed cities and actually created a new capital away from the ruins, which made it feel more structurally safe compared to Polis and she definitely preferred the palace the Ice Nation monarch ruled from to the flame tower from where the Commander issued her orders.

Raven’s jaw had dropped open when she had first laid eyes on the Winter Palace.  The first truly crafted building she had seen in her life as if an architect had designed it and it was astounding in its beauty.

The smug look on Roan’s face as he’d taken her around showed that he already knew that and she’d thrown him a glare as he’d thrown open double doors that led to a massive bedroom and declared it to be hers for as long as she wanted.

He hadn’t said for for the duration of her stay, she’d noted and had snuck a look at him out the corner of her eye. There had been a nervous energy present that he’d desperately been attempting to tamp down, but she’d picked up on anyway. He had wanted her to be impressed that first day and it hadn’t really lessened in the month she’d been there.

There were always little things left for her. A sweet smelling shampoo, luxurious cotton sheets for her bed or a new fur lined cloak. Nothing too large that she could complain about without sounding petty. The one time she had mentioned it, Roan had shrugged it off, claiming that she was doing them a massive service and he wanted her to be comfortable.

However, as she stayed longer among the Azgeda, she realised that she wanted it to be more than that. She did want it to mean something personal between them, but for all his swaggering arrogance, Roan appeared hesitant when it came to her. Almost as if he feared stepping beyond a boundary and scaring her off. It was this more than anything that had her deciding to do something about it.

So she had conspired with the handmaiden who’d been assigned to her (Raven had rolled her eyes when Myriah had been introduced to her. Who had _handmaidens_? It was like something out of those sweeping historical films Finn had always been so keen on), and arranged for a meal in her private quarters for them.

“What is the occasion?” Roan asked, as he strolled into the room, casting his cloak aside casually.

“Does there need to be one? I just felt like having you all to myself.”

That had him stopping in his tracks and Raven couldn’t help the smirk that curled her lips up. She enjoyed how she could consistently surprise him and put him on the back foot.

A gleam entered Roan’s eyes and his voice deepened even more, which she had not thought possible, as he said, “Is that so.” He then looked around, taking in the candles and flowers Myriah had scattered about with distressing frequency. “I see my people have had an effect.”

Raven scowled and crossed her arms defensively. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He grinned wickedly at her. “This is positively romantic.”

Scoffing, she didn’t give him the satisfaction of blushing or looking away. Instead, she modulated her voice and said in a matter of face tone she was proud of, “Are you going to stand over there all day or are you going to get that cute ass over here?”

He threw his head back and laughed before he finished walking across the room to stand close to her. “You, Raven Reyes, are a never ending surprise.”

She wound her arms around his neck, entwining her fingers into his long hair. “Damn straight I am,” she said before pulling him down the short distance needed to meet his lips.


	11. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So inspiration for an epilogue hit, which is unusual for me!

In the end, Raven didn’t return back to Arkadia until spring was firmly established, and then it was only for a visit. She’d settled into life with Ice Nation and held a vital role on their council as chief technical advisor to the king. She’d also gained respect among the Azgeda, much to her surprise.

At first, she thought it was because she happened to be sleeping with Roan, but when she brought that up late one night as they lay drowsily together in his large bed, his fingers tracing patterns over her hip, he laughed long and hard. She stiffened, angry at his response, which he felt and kissed soothing kisses over her shoulder.

“It is not because you are sleeping with me, but because you have brought them technology,” he said.

“Why is that such a big thing?”

“It has always been forbidden to us. A decree that came from the very first Heda and it has never been challenged. Technology was somehow to blame for the end of the world and so living without it seemed like a good measure.”

“I sense a but coming,” she said wryly.

“When Skaikru landed, you should have been easy to defeat. You were nothing but a small camp of untrained kids. Then you found the guns and killed Lexa’s army with a ring of fire.”

She smiled smugly, “I did, didn’t I?”

Roan frowned. “I thought that was Clarke.”

“Pfft,” she scoffed. “I love Clarke, but she does not have the knowledge for that plan. It was all me.”

He bent his head and kissed her soundly. “I knew I had chosen my queen well.”

“Queen? I don’t remember marrying you?”

“You don’t have to marry me to be my queen. It is accepted among the Azgeda that you are already.”

“Huh,” she said, wondering if this was why she had so much respect.

“Not the reason, either,” he murmured. “My father was never the Queen’s Consort because he was never respected by the people. He was considered weak because he did not like to fight.”

Raven blinked a little. Trying to figure out how Roan’s formidable mother had ended up in a relationship with a man who shied away from battle. It didn’t seem to fit anything she’d learned about the dead Queen during her months in the Azgeda capital. Nia had left quite the legacy behind and Roan had spent a large part of the winter opening diplomacy with other clans who had refused to do business with the duplicitous Ice Queen. “How did that work?” she finally asked.

“Lust does not always choose wisely.”

“I hear you,” she said, thinking about how she’d lusted after Wick and how they’d wanted very different things. “So Skaikru came and impressed you with how awesome technology is?”

“You did. You defeated Lexa’s army and then the Mountain, a scourge that had been plaguing us for three generations, in little more than a month.”

“And that’s all it took for you to realise how amazing we are?” she asked in a teasingly flippant tone.

He picked up her lead, something she adored about him, “Can you believe that some people still need more proof of that?”

“Idiots,” she replied.

“More fool them,” Roan agreed. “However, I knew not to make that mistake. It’s why I made sharing technology as part of the terms for Skaikru being accepted into the coalition.”

“Here was me thinking you did just to lure me to your lair.”

“I didn’t say they weren’t extra bonuses.”

“Sneaky,” she replied, pulling him down so she could kiss him more thoroughly.

\----------

A month later, the pair of them stood outside of the gates of Arkadia, waiting for them to be opened.

“Fitting that we’re back here,” Roan murmured quietly. “This time with you on the other side of the gate with me.”

They were here because according to Grounder tradition Roan needed to make a formal application to the leader of Skaikru to officially marry and make Raven his accepted queen. She had resisted this step for a couple of weeks, claiming that she wasn’t goods to barter and why did they have to marry anyway. It wasn’t as if the Ice Nation hadn’t already accepted her. However, Roan insisted on doing this properly. He wanted her to be widely known as Queen Raven across all the clans.

Arkadia had continued to change in her absence and she might well have felt as lost as Clarke had when she’d walked through the same gates with Roan almost a year ago to the day, but she didn’t because unlike Clarke then, Raven had kept in regular contact with Arkadia. The new communication system she had spent the summer installing across Azgeda territory had meant there was an increased frequency which gave her the ability to be in radio contact with Arkadia. She hadn’t been sure that this would be the outcome of her plans, but was very glad when it was.

It had meant Raven had been able to inform her people of her intent to stay on with the Ice Nation past the summer. She’d very deliberately not mentioned that this decision was due largely to Roan, but the long pause that greeted her announcement and the careful way Clarke had said, “Send my regards to Roan,” meant her intentions were transparent.

Bellamy hadn’t been so understanding, calling her back on the radio just an hour later. He’d tried to mask his worry by aggressively refusing to outright ask her if she was being held prisoner, but he hadn’t skated around his concerns very adeptly, constantly asking her if she was sure she was okay or needed him to come and get her.

Luckily, Bellamy hadn’t heard Roan’s amused murmur, “As if he could best me if I truly were holding you captive.”

Raven had shushed him and finally been able to convince Bellamy she wasn’t being held against her will or anything.

However, he had apparently been convinced that she was in no danger as he hadn’t appeared outside the gates of the Winter Palace demanding her release, and was casually leaning against the wall in Kane’s Office as Roan formally asked for a separate coalition between Azgeda and Skaikru, stating that the bond between them was now stronger than the general coalition held in place by the Commander.

“And the Heda is okay with this arrangement?” Clarke asked, her eyes narrowed.

“Ontari knows that once you have deposed one heda, it’s not that difficult to depose another one. Especially for the strongest clan in the coalition.”

Raven watched Clarke closely, worried that she would be upset by Roan’s reference to Lexa, but it seemed as if Raven was not the only one to have healed in past year as Clarke just nodded her understanding.

“What would this treaty mean should the Heda’s coalition fall apart?” Kane asked.

“That Azgeda and Skaikru stand together regardless.”

“Then we would be stupid to turn this opportunity down,” Kane remarked.

Raven couldn’t help but smile as Roan and Kane shook on the deal and orders were issued for a formal agreement to be drawn up. This was not the outcome she had ever imagined when she had first laid eyes on Roan, thinking he was Clarke’s new bodyguard, but it was by far the best possible result.

“So, are you all jealous that I brought us a peace none of you could manage?” Raven asked Clarke, Bellamy and Kane with wink.

Bellamy rolled his eyes while Clarke groaned and Kane looked on happily.

Raven intertwined her fingers with Roan’s and stated, “It’s hard to be as awesome as me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, you can find me on [tumblr](http://rumaan.tumblr.com/) if you should so wish!


End file.
